Disclaimer: Guess what site we're on! That's right! This site is called Fanfiction! Not Ownerfiction, but Fanfiction! Get the picture?
Lily Evans had an odd quirk.
James Potter found this quirk to be endearing. Sirius would even go as far as saying that James found it to be adorable.
It really started when the new Head Boy and Girl moved into their Head dormitory. It was a comfy place, with a small common room, a special bathroom, and separate rooms for the two occupants.
The bedrooms were very simply furnished. The round rooms had a four-poster bed, a desk and table, and were decorated in each Head's respective House colors.
One thing was different about each room, however, and this was causing the Head Girl some bit of distress.
Her partner, the one and only James Potter, had taken the one room with the window and window seat.
Lily sighed, sulking on the common room couch. She glared at the cause of her distress as he threw himself down on the couch and slung an arm around her shoulders. She glared at him again, before huffing and looking at the fire. For years, ever since their fourth year, James would just randomly sling an arm around her waist, or suddenly grab her hand.
At first, Lily would smack him or merely pull away, depending on her mood. Then, suddenly, it just became natural for James to hold Lily while the two were sitting next to each other, or standing in the halls.
James was the epitome of perseverance, occasionally forsaking his pride for the object of his affections. Sometimes, when he felt like a change of pace, he would remind her about her brilliant combination of the Jelly Legs, Full Body Bind, and Bat Bogey spells she'd used on him. The Jelly Legs made him trip, unable to avoid the Full Body Bind, which had made James an easy target for the Bat Bogies.
It was because of James's perseverance that the two were friends. Not as close as he might have liked, perhaps, but enough that Lily didn't mind sharing a private dorm with him.
However, being friends with Lily did not excuse James from taking the only window seat in the dorm.
They sat on the couch together for several minutes, until Lily stood up, James's arm falling back to his side. She sent him another dirty glare, and went to her room to sleep.
Blinking at the door she disappeared through, James walked to his own room.
"What's Lily all cracked up about?" he asked himself, before closing the door.
James never got his first hint of Lily's quirk until the second week of the school year, on a Saturday. The Marauders had been out by the lake, plotting the beginning of that year's war with Filch.
When they had finished, it was mid-afternoon, and James had gone to put the map back in his room. When he'd entered the dorm, James noticed Lily's door to be slightly open. Curiously, he looked inside to see Lily, dressed for the day, curled up on top of her bed.
Grinning, though confused – surely she hadn't been up late last night, he would have known! – James closed her door and put the map away.
As the year progressed, and James and Lily became closer and closer, James would find Lily to be asleep during the day quite often. At first, she would be asleep in her own room, but eventually, James would find her in odder places. He'd nearly woken her the first James had found her asleep on the common room couch. Several times she'd been asleep on the floor in front of the fire, curled up like a cat. Eventually, James just started entering the Head dorm as quietly as possible to avoid waking Lily. It was a source of great amusement to his fellow Marauders, Sirius in particular, who frequently told James that they weren't even dating and Lily had him whipped.
The first day he'd found Lily asleep on the bathroom floor, James nearly had a heart attack.
Lily wasn't always napping when James came into their dorm. Sometimes she was awake, or not even there. So, when he didn't see her, James thought nothing of it. He only began to worry when he saw her on the cold, tile flooring.
Rushing over to her, James cried, "Lily!" and began to pick her up. The sudden movement and noise woke her, and she blinked at James in confusion. Lily leaned her head on James's shoulder, still half-asleep, and yawned.
In a tired voice, Lily murmured, "What's the matter, James?"
"Why were you asleep on the bathroom floor!?"
"It was cold, and it felt good," she yawned again, and wrapped an arm around James's neck, cuddling him like a stuffed animal. "You're warm, and you feel good too."
James stared at Lily, who'd fallen asleep in his arms, slightly shocked. True, the two were friends, but Lily tended to be a little-to-no contact person. That she would fall asleep in his arms, indicated to him that she might possibly like him! (He had quickly discarded the thought that she was simply tired in his euphoria.)
James stood, carrying Lily, and took her to her room, depositing her on the bed. He needed to grab Sirius and unravel the sudden knot in his head.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the school, it was this quirk of Lily's which brought the two together. When they overheard fifth years discussing theories involving the Whomping Willow and the giant squid, Lily just grinned and James merely tightened his grip on Lily's waist, and both think of the day she finally realized she really did like him.
Still, it was no surprise to the Marauders when James brought them to his room, discussing their New Year's prank, only to find Lily asleep on the window seat, using James's pillow as a softener against the stone wall.
A/N: So, yeah. I despise the 'Head Dorm' idea. Two seventeen year olds of the opposite sex rooming with each other? I don't think so, buster. It was a necessary evil for this fic, but I still don't like it.
Also, no, I did not just randomly come up with this random idea, 'Oh, wouldn't it be brilliant if Lily fell asleep in all of these weird little places?' I actually do that. It's the best feeling in the world when you came curl up in some little corner and fall asleep. But I digress.... I just decided to imagine how James might react to all this. And EVERYBODY writes about the stubborn, independent Lily that finally cracks and falls for James. I wanted to write a cutesy, dependent Lily that finally cracks and falls for James. Sue me.
Personally, I don't think the was the best I've ever written (I'm awful at the romance writing stuff, I don't know if I'll ever be good at it) but I'm just hoping it doesn't get me lynched.